Kyle Dubas wanted to take advantage of teams who needed to shed some cap space and he has made his first move running the Penguins. He looked towards the reigning Stanley Cup champions to acquire what looks to be Jason Zucker’s replacement.
The Penguins will receive Reilly Smith in exchange for a Vegas’ original 3rd round pick they gave the Penguins for Teddy Blueger. They effectively traded Blueger for Smith which isn’t too shabby. Smith has two more years left on his deal at 5M. This is what an ideal Zucker extension would look like, but Zucker has leverage in a weak free agent class and would likely command more term and possibly more money.
Let’s compare the two:
I personally liked Zucker quite a bit last year as most people did. I think he showed what he was capable of last year after a stretch of injuries. Unfortunately, if Zucker is going to get the deal he thinks he deserves it likely won’t come from the Penguins. I think Dubas is doing a really nice job getting ahead of the curve and getting his potential replacement settled instead of chasing it in the near future and potentially missing out and overpaying on something less effective than Smith.
There will be much more to do in shaping the roster. This is a really nice start.
Thanks for reading!